A high frequency of Mamu-A*01 in the rhesus macaque detected by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers and direct sequencing.

SIV infection of rhesus macaques is an excellent model for HIV infection of humans. Unfortunately, it is has been difficult to identify macaques expressing particular MHC class I alleles. Here we describe the use of PCR-SSP for Mamu-A*01 typing of rhesus macaques. The Mamu-A*01 allele was amplified from genomic DNA using Mamu-A*01-specific primers and positive PCR products were directly sequenced. Our technique identified 15 Mamu-A*01-positive animals of 68 tested. We validated our molecular analysis by showing that lymphocytes from 8 Mamu-A*01-positive animals expressed Mamu-A*01 as determined by immunoprecipitation and 1-D IEF. The technical simplicity and accuracy of this typing method should facilitate selection of Mamu-A*01-positive rhesus macaques for AIDS virus pathogenesis and vaccine studies.